A Kind of Paradise
by AerynSolaria
Summary: This fanfic is a continuation of JM Straczynski's short story "Space, Time & the Incurable Romantic"


_A big thank you to my beta Mothstar for helping me to translate my text!_

_Disclaimer : These are not my characters._

_Brief summary of "Space, Time & the Incurable Romantic": Marcus had woken up 300 years in the future. He couldn't live without Susan, so he decided to make a clone, in which he implanted the memory of the original Ivanova with a neuronal imprint levied by Minbari. This clone is identical to Susan as she was just before the attack on the White Star._

The day was pretty much over. Susan seemed to be the same as the one he had known. Marcus fell asleep feeling confident.  
The next morning, Susan awoke suddenly with a sharp intake of breath.  
"Where am I?" she exclaimed.  
She sat up and looked around. She was on a beach, a beautiful beach surrounded by a peaceful sea of sparkling blue. The sun peeked over the horizon.  
A Ranger came and crouched beside her.  
"Marcus? What is—?" Susan was too upset to finish her sentence; her voice shook with emotion. She managed a small smile and put her hand on Marcus's cheek. "I've finally found you. Were you waiting for me?"  
Marcus paled. What had happened? This was not the same Susan he had seen yesterday.  
Susan looked at her hands and brought them to her face. She examined her body. Then she smiled. "I found the body of my youth."  
She beamed up at Marcus, her eyes dancing. "Is this heaven? Have you been waiting for me all this time?"  
Marcus didn't know what to do. Apparently she remembered. She remembered everything.  
"Delenn told me not to worry," Susan continued. "She said that I would find peace at last. I think those are the last words I heard before…" She trailed off, her expression suddenly darkened.  
It wasn't possible! Susan remembered her death, but the neuronal footprint was made several months ago. There was only one answer: she was the real Susan. She returned with him. Marcus would have to explain everything to her. After he did that, would she still accept him?  
Marcus took her hands.  
"Is this you, Susan? Is this really you? You're back?" Tears blurred Marcus's vision. He had hoped to make another Susan, but he hadn't imagined that the real Susan could return. However, she was right here, right in front of him.  
How was this possible?  
The Minbari believe that souls can be reincarnated. What may have happened was that Susan's soul had found her own body. A miracle.  
Marcus could ease the pain he hadn't meant to cause. But before he could do that, he had to tell Susan the truth, whatever the consequences were.  
"Susan, we are in 2582. This isn't heaven, sorry."  
"What? Marcus! What have you done?" Susan's voice was angry and full of her usual authority.  
Marcus smiled. It was so good to see her again!  
Then he explained.  
He had been awake for more than thirty years, over three hundred years after his cryopreservation. He was alive but terribly alone. He had no chance of ever seeing Susan, his only reason for living. He decided to make a clone of his beloved and refroze himself until the clone reached the age of Susan before Marcus's death. This clone gained memories taken from the real Ivanova shortly before Marcus's death, but the Ranger had taken care not to give her those after Marcus had sacrificed himself for her.  
"Why, Marcus? See, you wanted me, but I became an old woman. I'm not the same Ivanova you knew. I experienced so much. My appearance attracted you, Marcus."  
"I could see what your life was, Susan. I thought you could be happy. I never wanted to hurt you. You shouldn't have to make yourself stick to me. But what I remembered is that you spent a lot of time with me on Minbar. You came to talk to me every day, even though I was frozen."  
"I thought you saved my life."  
"I don't know if that explains everything. I'd love to hear everything you told me."  
"I've lived a life, Marcus, certainly not the life that I dreamed of living, but I lived a long life. You're still young. It's silly for you to embarrass yourself with me. You have to live, Marcus."  
"Susan, do you think I didn't hear what you said when you woke up earlier?"  
"What?"  
"You thought that you were in heaven. You thought that I had waited. You didn't seem to reject anything!"  
"It wasn't the same."  
"If I had been waiting for you to come, then it would not have wiped your memory. So it would have been the same thing."  
Susan was so happy to hear Marcus's arguments again. She smiled.  
"I love you, Susan," Marcus breathed.  
"I love you too, Marcus. I have loved you all my life."  
"Then give us another chance."  
Susan looked at her young body again and then at Marcus. After all, her love for him had only grown during all these years. She had not forgotten. He had always been there in her mind.  
Yes, somehow this was heaven. After accidentally locked in a kind of hell, Marcus with his new awkwardness offered her something else: heaven.  
She got up and kissed him.

End


End file.
